UN resolution seeks sanctions against Ivory Coast

UNITED NATIONS 
France and Nigeria on Friday introduced a U.N. resolution aimed at halting the growing violence in Ivory Coast by imposing new sanctions on leader Laurent Gbagbo and his inner circle who have refused to cede power.

France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters that he had circulated the draft to Security Council members Friday morning and it would be discussed next week.

"The reason for the political crisis is simple: Gbagbo doesn't want to leave," Araud said. "There have been many attempts to find a political solution ... but Gbagbo is resisting."

Gbagbo, the Incumbent president, has refused to cede office despite his rival Alassane Ouattara being recognized by the international community as the rightful winner of November's presidential election.

The draft resolution, obtained by the Associated Press, demands "an immediate end to the violence against civilians and urges all the Ivorian parties and stakeholders to respect the will of the people and the election of Alassane Dramane Ouattara as president."

It reiterates the council's longstanding demand that Gbagbo "without delay" lift the siege of the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara is protected by U.N. peacekeepers.

Gbagbo's troops reportedly have used mortars to fire on civilians in the capital, Abidjan, and the resolution calls on the U.N. peacekeeping force "to seize heavy weapons used against civilian populations."

It "condemns in the strongest terms the recent escalation of violence throughout the country, especially in Abidjan where serious and indiscriminate attacks against civilians by the forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo were committed in the neighborhood of Abobo which could amount to crimes against humanity."

At least 25 people were killed on March 17 when security forces loyal to Gbagbo fired several mortar shells at a market building in the rebel-held Abobo district of Abidjan. Gbagbo's forces earlier used heavy machine guns against women demonstrating peacefully in support of Ouattara in Abobo on March 3, killing seven and seriously wounding many others.

The proposed resolution calls on all parties to cooperate with an investigation of alleged rights abuses by the U.N. Human Rights Council's independent international commission. It said the commission's report should be sent to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court who is already conducting a preliminary examination of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ivory Coast.

U.N. sanctions on Ivory Coast, including an arms embargo and controls on the export of rough diamonds, have been in effect since 2004, during a civil war between Gbagbo's government and rebels supporting Ouattara.

The additional U.N. sanctions being considered would target Gbagbo, his wife and three other members of his inner circle for an asset freeze and travel ban.

Atul Khare, the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping, told council members earlier Friday that since he last briefed them on March 3, "the escalation in the use of heavy weapons has had a serious toll on the lives and well-being of the Ivorian people.

"The human rights situation is very grave, with a high number of human rights violations," he said.

At least 462 people have died in the violence since mid-December, said Khare.